“What better event to have a worldwide impact in Northern Nevada than Burning Man, especially with the ‘loose morals’ that some Burners live by,” Allen wrote in an email to the Reno Gazette-Journal, alluding to the nudity and alcohol and drug use at the event. “Just because it hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it is not possible. Remember, there was never a bomb at the Boston Marathon until there was. Nobody ever flew into a skyscraper until 9/11.

“If an event of that magnitude happened at this event, the soonest we could get resources to assist us in quelling the issue would be two hours. A lot can happen in that amount of time.”

Burning Man organizers have previously stated that they have a detailed mass casualty incident response plan, one that annually requires input from the organization and nearly all of the agencies that oversee emergency response at the event. The sheriff’s office, BLM, medical provider and other county and state agencies attend annual meetings to review the plan each year…

The Sheriff has made a few improvements since last year, and is hoping for BMOrg to do the same:

The sheriff’s office is also making some improvements on its own operations. A Burner tried to escape the on-site jail last year by jumping out of the trailer window. He was transported to a hospital by helicopter for treatment of serious cuts. Allen said the jail this year will have no windows as a result.

Additionally, the sheriff’s office is working on communications internally and with other agencies. Last year, a woman at Burning Man nearly died after a special reserve deputy injected her with a sedative as she resisted arrest, according to reports. The woman, who had been drinking, went into respiratory failure and had to be revived. As a result, Allen said, the sheriff’s office realized that contracts needed to better specify the responsibilities of his staff at the event.

As for communication between the playa and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office in Lovelock, the county seat, Allen hopes that the Internet access will be more consistent this year…

The BLM, which was criticized for overzealous tactics at last year’s Burn, said that it would discontinue the inspection of incoming postal packages at the event but it has not declared whether it will continue K-9 units and traffic stops at the event entry